


Third Time's A Charm

by IShouldBeWriting



Category: Diana Tregarde Investigations - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Gen, casefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-04-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 20:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/777705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShouldBeWriting/pseuds/IShouldBeWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Di really hated that big "Good Eats and Help Found Here" sign hanging over her psychic head....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Third Time's A Charm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greycardinal](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=greycardinal).



_Not again, Di thought feeling something pass through the building’s wards and stop in the entryway. _I’m not sure I like this pattern. Gods, I wish I could get rid of the giant “Good Eats and Help Found HERE” sign hanging over my virtual head.__

_Rousing herself from the laptop where she’d been working on her latest novel, Di headed for the workroom and by extension, the front door. Andre, who’d been sitting on the slightly sagging couch opposite her, picked up his head and watched._

_“Diana?”_

_“Something’s downstairs.”_

_Knowing that _something_ probably didn’t refer to the building’s resident cat, Andre rose as well, following along behind her. He noted that as she passed through the workroom she grabbed her athame off the altar. _A wise and cautious idea,_ he agreed. Luckily some of the skills he’d picked up in the centuries since his death meant that he no longer required physical weaponry with which to defend himself. No, his own hands, feet, and body would serve nicely. _And fangs, let’s not forget fangs._ While he might not been entirely comfortable at times with his current existence, sometimes being a vampire had its uses._

_It didn’t surprise either of them that the door across the hall from hers was open._

_“Lenny,” Di nodded as she walked past the front door of his apartment._

_“There’s something - “ he began, one hand rising in an attempt to smooth down his flyaway thinning hair._

_“I know, I’m on it. Just stay up here. We’ll let you know if we need backup.”_

_Len grimaced but nodded his agreement. Much as he would prefer to have been in the thick of things, Di was right; his body wasn’t strong enough. Not any more. _Damn, HIV. Damn drugs..._ As he passed, Andre gave Len’s arm an understanding squeeze. It didn’t entirely take away the sting of having to sit back and watch, but it certainly helped. _

_Looking over the banister Diana tried to see if she could spot whatever it was as she rounded the corner. As soon as the building’s front door came into view, she took off at a dead run, pounding down the stairs two at a time. A woman’s body lay crumpled on the floor. Regardless of what it’s true form might be, the _thing_ was maintaining a human shape at the moment and Di couldn’t help the surge of adrenaline she felt as the geas of her Guardianship rose up and demanded that she help this person. _

_Hitting the bottom of floor, Diana dropped to her knees. Her fingers automatically went for the pulse point on the ashen brown length of the woman’s throat. Nothing._

_“No pulse,” she told Andre shortly when he reached the bottom of the stairs, “She’s not one of -”_

_Diana couldn’t manage to finish the question. Not when a pair of eyes - brown like cocoa powder and with more iris than they should have contained - opened and looked up at her._

_“Please -” The woman’s voice was small, thin, and dry, as if she hadn’t had anything to drink in far too long._

_Andre’s hand fell on Di’s shoulder, breaking the spell. “I would prefer that you put some distance between yourself and this _thing_ , petit. At least until we know what it is and what it wants.”_

_“Than I was right? She’s not a vamp?”_

_“Non,” Andre affirmed. “She has not the feel of one of my kind. But then again, I will remind you that your David never felt that way either and yet was no less dangerous.”_

_Wincing at the memory of a past which was still painful years later, Di rose and backed away, putting cautious distance between herself and the thing wearing a woman’s form. The woman in turn rose unsteadily to her knees, swaying faintly. She continued to watch them both, sadness and desperation plain to see in those wide too-dark eyes._

_“You are Diana Tregarde?” She asked. “Please, while you are correct that I am no longer entirely of the living, I... I need your help.”_

_Di bit her lip. _Magic words, lady. Did someone tell you what to say, or ...__

_In the end, it didn’t matter. This thing that wore the shape of a human being had asked for help. And she, she was bound to give it._

_~~oOOo~~_

**Author's Note:**

> Yes this is indeed going to be continued. Promise!


End file.
